Good Paying Green Collar Jobs Growing in California

Green collar jobs that pay well are getting easier to find in California, a hub for clean technology innovation and implementation.

Next 10, a not-for-profit research group in Palo Alto found that the green collar job sector rose by 10% between 2005 and 2007, while total job growth in the state of California was only at 1%, proving that green jobs are a significant factor in keeping Americans employed.

From the LA Times

"California, like the rest of the nation and world, is caught in a financial perfect storm at the same time it has committed to dramatic reductions in global warming emissions," said Doug Henton, co-founder of Collaborative Economics, a Silicon Valley firm that prepared the report for Next 10. "This [data] provides evidence that moving to cleaner and more efficient energy use must be part of the economic solution."

Besides showing that green-collar jobs are growing faster that statewide employment opportunities, the study also illustrated how clean-tech investment in the state hit a record last year, despite steep stock-market declines; that California leads the nation in patent registrations for green technology; and that efficiency measures pushed forward over the last 30 years has created 1.5 million jobs.

Everyone from researchers and scientists to installers and technicians are able to take a piece of the cleantech pie. And as the drive for energy efficiency, carbon emissions reductions, and alternative energy sources continues, more and more jobs will become available.

More on Green Collar Jobs:
The TH Interview: Van Jones—The Green Collar Economy (Part One)
Green Jobs - Let's Seize The Opportunity
Where Are All the Green Collar Workers?
Book Review: The Green Collar Economy by Van Jones